Puppy Love

I'm busily knitting up a new project but since the progress shots wouldn't be exciting, I'm sharing photos of my little bundle of joy(and ENERGY!) instead. Brace yourself: Her name's Gracie, and she's a cutie!

I've been spotted.

weeeeeeeee!

Pretty.

mischief.

All in all, I've determined that it's called puppy love for a reason...

Riding on

Finals are done, grades are in, school has been left, and my heart is healing. Hello world, I'm back--thanks for waiting. Also, thank you for your words of encouragement in getting me through this rough patch. It's been a while since I've done the whole "single thing" and to be honest, it's still feeling pretty foreign to me (3.5 years is a long time to suddenly be without a +1!). I'm finding that taking things one day at a time is helping, and that spending quality time with friends and family is making this transition bearable. Man does it hurt though. It's especially hard because I use knitting for general relaxation and think time--and think time is the exact opposite of what I need right now. Basically I have resorted to only knitting with other people or with something very distracting on in front of me. It's not ideal, but hey, it's a start.

Now, I've never been one for rebounding, but sometimes a rebound is the best medicine. Please meet the new love of my life:

"Hello, I'm adorable."


"*yawn* being cute makes me sleepy..."

Meet Gracie-- the soon-to-be new addition to our household. June 8th will be the official date that she joins us, and let me tell you--I can't wait to have her for keeps. Forget chocolate, nothing heals a broken heart like a cute & cuddly puppy. Seriously.

In knitting news, I was finally able to attend my first 'knit night' of the season and I got quite a bit of work done on my mom's shawl! I finished the 17 repeats and I have moved onto the edging portion. dare I predict completion within the week? I dare. I have proof of said progress as seen here:

Say hello mom, you're famous!

More fun photos of knit night have been chronicled here on my fellow knit blogger Sarah's site! We had a fantastic turnout (9 people!) Including some of my close family & friends. It's fantastic to see how the group has grown since it's humble beginning last winter. Being there was therapeutic to say the least, and I can't wait to go back again next week. To all of you considerate readers, thanks again for your support through this all--knitters are certainly a caring breed!

One Savvy Shopper

So as mentioned in a previous post, I will be leaving this Thursday to travel off to the Boston area. More specifically, the Cambridge area. More specifically than that, the Harvard area. No, I'm not transferring to Ivy League glory, but instead, becoming an honorary student for the 6 days that follow my arrival. I have been given explicit instructions to:

A. say I'm an Anthropology major (?)
B. tell everyone I'm Jewish (which I am)
C. let everyone know I'm originally from Wisconsin.

I've heard these things will make me friends, though I can't help but question why. Regardless, my best friend has drafted up an itinerary of events for me to complete while I'm there. One of the more substantial events will be a "90's" themed dance on Saturday night. My first thought? No PROBLEM! After all, I did spend my blossoming years growing up through 90's; in fact, it's the only decade I can claim as my own!

Trouble is, I was in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL through most of the 90's, and (believe it or not) none of my clothes still fit me. Heh. *Enter intense brainstorming period*

My [patient] friends helped me come up with a ton of costume ideas spanning from Clueless, to Full House-- Boy Meets World, to the Spice Girls. If I had had unlimited time to gather materials or create something, that would have been different. Heck, if it were up to me, I'd find a full sized animal costume, cut out a giant tag board heart and go as a Beanie Baby. Alas, the character I decided on had to be dreamt up in less than a week on a college budget. So, what's a girl to do? I went to our friendly neighborhood Goodwill of course! And I came home with...
A green [J.Crew!!] dress for $6.99...

A black belt half priced at $0.99...

A pair of white tights [unopened from Walmart] $3.50...

A pair of black patent mary janes [Clearance for $6.00!!]...

and lastly (the knitting part) the ever-popular Hallowig, in black. [priceless].

So. Can you guess what I'm going as? I won't declare this an official contest, but know that if you can successfully guess what I'll be, I'll be sincerely impressed with your 90's wisdom. Seriously impressed.

Also, check out what else this savvy shopper snagged while thrifting[!]:That's right. 7 glorious balls of super bulky mystery fiber (we think a wool/synthetic blend?). Pretty darn pleased with myself for finding that one. Chicklet's excited too. Once I establish yardage, I'll start brainstorming patterns...hoo boy!

Blackout

Everyone knows what a blackout is, yes? Some people have medically related blackouts, some have anger blackouts, and then there's me: I have knitting blackouts. What do I mean by this? I mean I sat down to talk with a [close] friend last night and about three hours later I had 3/4 of a children's hat completed.

I don't [consciously] remember choosing to make this hat, finding the yarn, downloading the pattern, checking gauge (okay, realistically I know I didn't check gauge on this one), or any of the other preparation type activities that go into starting a new project. I'm starting to think that this might be the cause of my accumulated WIP collection though....sigh. I give you: Thorpe
Mr. pumpkin is hiding underneath this time...maybe he's camera shy tonight, who knows. Anyway, this hat was made for my fantastic manager's [sited here] daughter, Allie. She will be turning 2 in April, and cozy hats are never too plentiful this time of year in Wisconsin! Here are the stats:

Pattern: Thorpe
Designer: Kirsten Kapur
Needles: US 10 Addi turbo circulars
Yarn: Plymouth yarn Indiecita Baby Alpaca Grande
Start date: sometime (?) early a.m. 2/18 End Date: Afternoon 2/18

So exactly what happened during those hours between midnight and 3am, nobody will ever know. What is known is that a cute and simple toddler hat was born in the process. Modifications? Well, my gauge was obviously smaller so that's how I go the hat to be kiddy sized. Since the pattern size was making the hat longer and I didn't know Allie's actual head size, I opted to leave off the earflap part, despite how cute it would have been. Also, I used magic loop from the top down which was challenging at first, but better than futzing with DPNs in my opinion (also I didn't have any, and in my "haze" I decided I didn't care). The alpaca knit up so smooth and dense, and the double thickness of the colors will really help keep Allie warm!

Also, here is a shot of my pet chicklet helping me show off the other label Lindsey graciously gifted. This one is a little more feminine than the one I sewed into Koolhas, and I love them both equally.

And yes. I know that's not a real chicken, but I don't have cute cats to drape my knitting over...wind up toys will have to do.

C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough for Me!

I haven't had much time to knit, but here's what I've got to show for myself:














That is the start of my Slouchy Cabled Beret . I found this pattern by mindlessly browsing Ravelry (seeming to happen more often lately than normal) and decided to use it as relaxation knitting working up to finals week. The yarn is Malabrigo worsted in Polar Morn. so far I'm very pleased with the way it's coming out, it's unbelievably soft! The photo doesn't do the colors justice, it's really a more purply grey than it looks. Actually, I'm making this hat to go with this new addition to my wardrobe.

Much love for this coat. It should be arriving tomorrow via DHL and I'm definitely looking forward to it. It is, admittedly, retail therapy to cope with the loss of the puppy I've had since I was 9. She was too cute for words, and she will be missed and never replaced.


I love my Mabel. How can you say no to that face?













Lastly, earlier tonight (to prevent me from having a homework meltdown), my fantastic roommate Jamie decided we should make holiday sugar cookies! They were a success, and the definitely took my mind off of schoolwork for an hour. Mission Accomplished. Here are some photos of what we created.

Some of my personal favorites include the field of grazing sheep, the angel fish, the menorah, the hat, mittens, ball of yarn, and of course, the sad looking dreidel that really meant well.
What a fun night!